I didn't read "A Brave New World" until I was an adult and I found it disturbing in ways, many of which are showcased in this comic, that I think would have been lost on me in my adolescence. That said, I think an important part of the world building that is left out in this comic is that all people are born in a laboratory and their access to oxygen is deprived in calculated ways to limit their intellectual ability and ability to achieve societal success. Then repeatedly told over a loudspeaker during their infancy what class they belong to instil a deeply engrained knowledge of their place in the world.
The horrific, hilarious irony is that both are true simultaneously. There's no point in debating which kind of dystopia we're in, because both apply, and I hate it here.
WE by Russian writer [Yevgeny Zamyatin]
Published in 1921, ten years before Huxley’s Brave New World. We tracks almost 1:1 to BNW in themes and concepts. I wish Zamyatin got the credit he deserved for Huxleys obvious ripoff
Edit: bad typo
Meh, they didn't fear these things, they saw them as present in their own time/society... Because you can make these types of statements/stories at any time:
"I think grug enjoys staring into the forest too much, I do not understand what he sees out there."
"I wish someone other than me would disagree with the tribal elders. I will still disagree, but I will hide it."
Neither of them particularly capture what's going on today.
7 Comments
BanjoShepard@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 1y
I didn't read "A Brave New World" until I was an adult and I found it disturbing in ways, many of which are showcased in this comic, that I think would have been lost on me in my adolescence. That said, I think an important part of the world building that is left out in this comic is that all people are born in a laboratory and their access to oxygen is deprived in calculated ways to limit their intellectual ability and ability to achieve societal success. Then repeatedly told over a loudspeaker during their infancy what class they belong to instil a deeply engrained knowledge of their place in the world.
Dogiedog64@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1y
The horrific, hilarious irony is that both are true simultaneously. There's no point in debating which kind of dystopia we're in, because both apply, and I hate it here.
supernicepojo@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y
WE by Russian writer [Yevgeny Zamyatin] Published in 1921, ten years before Huxley’s Brave New World. We tracks almost 1:1 to BNW in themes and concepts. I wish Zamyatin got the credit he deserved for Huxleys obvious ripoff Edit: bad typo
Spaniard@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y
So it's both and it sucks.
Mostly_Gristle@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
As Cory Doctorow puts it, "We've Huxleyed ourselves into the full Orwell."
I suspect we're going to find out there'll still be room to cram in some Kafka around the edges.
EvilHankVenture@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Huxley isn't fast enough so it's Orwell to get us the rest of the way
DarkCloud@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Meh, they didn't fear these things, they saw them as present in their own time/society... Because you can make these types of statements/stories at any time:
Neither of them particularly capture what's going on today.